starting at 5:00 p.m. eastern time. for now, it's the second hour of the "closing bell" with maria bartiromo. i'll see you tomorrow. and it is 4:00 on wall street. do you know where your money is? hi, everybody. welcome back to the "closing bell." i'm maria bartiromo coming to you from cnbc global headquarters today. the market staging a nice rally on this election day. a triple-digit gain for the dow industrial, up 131 points. the market had been up about 180 points earlier. so we are settling off of the best levels of the session. nonetheless, the industrial average tonight at 13,249. nasdaq composite also higher today. 12 points higher, about 0.5% at 3,011. the s&p 500 picking up about 11. the election uncertainty did not seem to stop the markets from driving higher today. the rally keeps on going tomorrow no matter who gets the

white house. but gary thayer is a warning that attention will quickly shift back to the fiscal cliff. joining me now along with chad morganlander is everybody. debra, good to see you. thanks for joining us, everybody. why do you think that? >> well, as many of your guests have told you today, it's removing that uncertainty. i think this market doesn't care who wins. they'll finally put it to rest. they'll finally know who they're dealing with. it's better the devil you know than the devil you don't. >> gary, you're really focused on that fiscal cliff. are they going to be able to work this out? tell us how you envision this taking place after the election. >> we think this is the critical problem the country faces after the election. we see several scenarios. one is just kick the can down the road. we don't think that's the most

likely scenario. the other is going over the fiscal cliff. we don't think that's the most likely scenario. we think there will be some compromise which will create some fiscal drag for the economy. >> if they've not been able to come to a compromise on this yet -- and by the way, this all happened one year ago. everybody who was in place today, that includes the president and congress, this happened on their watch. so you would think that they would say, okay, we know the craziness that the united states went through because of the debt ceiling debate. let me start thinking about how to resolve this ahead of the deadline. here we are on the doorstep of the of deadline again. >> yeah, and i think that's very critical. they didn't want to do anything before the election. i don't think investors have a clear understanding that there's going to be a more active effort to get something done before the end of the year. doesn't look that way right now. we do think there's enough time. >> and david, i know you believe

the fiscal cliff is the biggest short-term concern. what comes next? where does the market go next? >> well, they've got to address the fiscal cliff first. i think that's merely a fiscal bridge into 2013. they just delay the hard decisions, the grand bargain, until later. as we get past that, hoping we get past that, into 2013, you know, we look forward to earnings improving the ining fr saw this past earnings season. we had 2% gdp. we want that to continue. housing has turn and is improving. consumer sentiment is getting better. we're looking for a decent 2013. the key is to at least have that fiscal bridge to get past the impact that the fiscal cliff would have. tho . >> let me throw out a question to all of you. can anyone explain this

triple-digit rally today in stocks? we just went through past elections. what we saw was on election day, the last several elections, except for last time with barack obama being elected, there were minimal gains in this market or losses. it was flat on the session. to what do you attribute this triple-digit move? >> i wouldn't look too closely in today's move. you may, in fact, see another couple of percentage points on the upside. keep in mind that the u.s. economy is still growing at a 1% to 2% happenedndle on gdp. like your previous guests mentioned, this fiscal drag that will occur in 2013. so, you know, 1% move in the market today is just noise. we have to look towards what global gdp is going over the course of the next 18 months. that's decelerating. >> so what you're saying, chad, is it doesn't mat who ater who

the white house. >> 2013 is going to look exactly like 2012. global gdp will be decelerating. the u.s. economy should perhaps be at a 1% to 2% gdp growth trajectory. that's including a fiscal drag in the united states of about 1%. that's our baseline assumption. but one should consider also that over in europe, you're going to be going into a recession in 2013. and our expectation there is for, perhaps, a 1% contraction. that's going to affect the financial markets here in the united states. one should not dilute themselves of that fact. >> maria, i think that the market today is probably as much about just election uncertainty coming out of the market, not about whether it's a romney or obama victory. it is people just looking at it. it's election uncertainty coming out. >> that makes a lot of sense. real quick, let's go around the horn here. how do you allocate capital? what do i want to be exposed to,

and what do i want to sell in 2013? given all of this that we know so far. >> well, you definitely want to get out of defense stocks. you don't want to be there because i think that those have already moved. if you get an obama win, you're going to get a pullback there. i think you want to start to look at retail. if people start to feel better, they're going to spend more money. >> all right. keep away from defense. buy retail. who's next? >> well, what i would do is i would keep a balanced portfolio. 50% equities, 50% fixed income. you want to go up the quality spectrum as well as you don't want to be exposed to european equities. when you have a destabilizing economy across the globe, that's where you want to allocate. >> jump n next up. >> i think that no matter who wins you avoid treasuries. if we're looking at equities, three areas to do well no matter if it's a romney or obama

victory. housing has turned. we think the home builders continue to do well. we're in a multiyear, long-term secular uptrend for housing. we think technology continues to do well. >> david? go ahead. >> maria, i think what we were seeing in the housing market is very encouraging. i think that the recovery in the consumer sector along with housing will offset some of this fiscal drag we're likely to see. we're not likely to see a strong growth next year. it could be, you know, close to this year or better in gdp growth. >> all right. great conversation. we appreciate it. we'll keep watching that as we get the results tonight. thanks so much, everybody. see you soon. bob, what are you making of this rare election day rally today? what's your take? >> i got list of obama stocks and romney stocks like everybody else. it didn't look like the market was saying obama is going to win, romney is going to win, but somebody is going to win. that was a good sign for the market. this is a classic risk-on trade

here. the big mover was commodities. take a look at gold and silver and oil. even lumber, for heaven's sake, was at a 52-week high today. those are big moves for commodities. all the big risk-on stock moves were there today in energy, materials, and transports. all up more than 1%. there's your indication of risk-on trade. everybody kept looking for obama stocks, romney stocks. dividend payers are generally assumed to be hurt under a president obama victory because there will be higher taxation under him for dividend payers. yet, i see no pattern here today. can you tell me what that means today with those percentage moves? to me that tells you nothing about who's going to win. there were all sorts of other ones like that. what the market wants to see is two things. they want to see something happening with the victory. they don't want no winner. they want the fiscal cliff to be resolved. the market seems to be indicating that might happen. look at defense stocks. i consider them fiscal cliff stocks.

sequestration a big problem for them. all of them on the upside today. >> all right, bob. thanks so much. keep it right here. you won't want to miss a minute of our special election day coverage of the "closing bell." back in a moment. coming up on this special election day edition of the "closing bell," the peterffy effect. he paid millions of his own money for ads urging voters to cast their ballots for the republican party. >> i'm thomas peterffy, and i'm responsible for the content of this advertising. >> so how does thomas peterffy feel now that the big day is here? he joins maria straight ahead. and by george, it's election day. former new york governor george pitaki joins maria with who i had thinks will win and why. that's all ahead on the "closing bell." maybe new buildings? what about updated equipment? they can help, but recent research shows...

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welcome back to our special election day edition of the close cloe. as you can see, we're looking at voters in the battleground state of ohio. this is columbus.

no republican president has won the white house who has not won ohio. we're going to take you back to ohio a number of times as voters are hitting the polls across the country today. we have something we don't often see on election day, a big stock market rally. the dow industrials up 133 points today. what's the stock market telling us? good to have you on the program, gentlemen. thank you so much for joining us. let's talk about this rally. are you surprised, paul, that we have a triple-digit move? to what would you attribute such gains? >> good afternoon, maria. am i surprised? no, i'm not surprised. i don't think in the short term, meaning this week, the market says anything about the election. when you look back, as we are over the last 100 years, you have to look back from the week prior to the election and the two months prior to the election. so interestingly, though the polls two months ago showed that obama was really going to run away with it and it's been that way for the last 18 months, the

market has really tightened the race, if you will. now it's almost a dead heat if you look at the dow. it's going to be really close. i think it's possible that romney is almost in a dead heat in the popular vote. >> neil, what do you think? what would you attribute this rally to? >> i think it's an emotional narcotic rig market right now. i call it the facebook market. people are trying to anticipate who's going to win this election today. think about it logically. companies are still making a tremendous amount of money. you have a split vote out there, according to the polls, where 50% of the people apparently are going to be upset tomorrow and the other 50% are going to be happy. so you'll probably have some emotional trading going on tomorrow. long term, the fundament tams of most all companies out there are very strong. >> so you're saying you want to be buying stocks regardless? >> i think you want to be buying

stocks regardless. be it if president obama is re-elected or if mitt romney comes in, you still have an emotional trade going on. you still have the fiscal cliff coming up. you still have to get clarity on health care, on taxes, on regulations. are we going to get it? we're going to need the senate and the congress at the same time. but companies aren't going to hire until we get clarity on those four issues. so emotionally, people would think, well, if mitt becomes president, maybe we'll get clarity. if president obama stays in office, well, then, we'll have gridlock for the next four years so don't move your money. >> paul, how do you see it? how do you want to invest knowing what we know today? >> i think tomorrow's a telling reaction. if we're looking in the short term, i think the move we have tomorrow and on thursday probably continues through the next week or two. i do believe that i'll be counter to most in our field. i think if romney wins, and i've got my red elephant tie on, but i think if romney wins, we're

going to see a 2% to 5% selloff by thanksgiving. i think if president obama's re-elected, we're going to have a much stronger rally in the short term and go to new highs for 2012 by year end. but i do agree the fundamental backdrop isn't as -- boy, this is the most disavowed bull market in history. everybody loves to hate it. the market trades fairly well. yeah, we've got some cracks beneath the surface, clearly, some sector leadership that's in question, but until we see liquidity being sucked out, until you see high-yield bonds roll over, until you see the nyse advance and the russell really take it on the chin, you have to side with the bulls over the intermediate term. >> let's not forget, to say it doesn't matter who's in the white house, a lot is at stake here. number one, health care. will it be repealed? will it stay in place? tax reform. what will that look like? will we see 43% tax rates for

capital gains and dividends? we could see the next president seat three to the supreme court. energy issues. does it mean coal? does it mean new energy? does it mean more drilling for oil and gas? so many issues at stake. it's hard for me to believe that nothing changes regardless of who's in the white house. >> no, and actually, i would respectfully disagree. it's very hard to find any president in the last 50 years who every time we go into an election similar issues come up, but no president ever runs over the country. you can name obamacare. it's probably the only time where the population really was against a policy that was put through. all these things, they seem to come up at every election. they all seem to work out. i don't believe, frankly, congress, either way, whomever gets re-elected, i think congress will be split. you're going to have continued gridlock. we've run out of painless

solutions. either taxes are going to go up, that's going to hurt gdp growth, or there's going to be expense cutting across the board. that's going to hurt gdp growth. i think we're in for a mild recession in either '13 or '14 no matter what the president is. >> all right. we'll be watching. gentlemen, thank you. 33 seats up for grabs in the senate. that balance of power, 435 seats in the house. what could a potential shift in the balance of power do to the looming fiscal cliff? we'll hash that out. and later -- >> yes, in socialism, the rich will be poorer, but the poor will also be poorer. people will lose interest in really work hard and creating jobs. >> hungarian billionaire thomas peterffy has been called one of the breakout stars of the 2012 campaign because of his ad warning about creeping socialism in the united states. we'll get his take on the election in the back half of the program and whether he plans to move back to hungary if

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welcome back. this is a live picture of voters in virginia. the key swing state has 13 electoral votes up for grabs. now take a look at new jersey voters. this is a live picture in cherry hill. they weren't hit as hard by sandy as coastal and northern new jersey residents. the state has extended the deadline for displaced voters to return their ballots to 8:00

p.m. on friday. there is a lot more at stake than just the presidency, of course. we could also see a big shift in congress. it could have a huge impact on the looming fiscal cliff. eamon javers is looking at that angle. >> there's a four-vote margin if republicans are going to take over in the senate. they need four votes to switch into their column. they only need three, however, if mitt romney wins. that's because paul ryan would be the vice president. in the house of representatives, democrats face an uphill battle. they would need a net 25 seat gain in the house in order for things to switch over. that's caused a lot of people to focus on what happens with the fiscal cliff negotiations after we get this election tonight. as you're seeing there, you're looking at paul ryan's campaign website. remember, he's running for the house of representatives tonight as a hedge in case he loses the

vice president vice presidency. will he be a member of the house? will he be the vice president of the united states? obviously, we're watching some of those negotiations that are ongoing already before the election. i want to show you a quote here from speaker of the house john boehner who said this to politico just yesterday. he said, we're not raising taxes on small business people. ernst and young has made this clear. it's beginning to cost our country 700,000 jobs. why in the world would we want to do that? this is john boehner laying down a line in the sand. whatever we see coming out of this election is going to be very, very fraught, very tough negotiations. i don't see how we break this log jam based on the election results. >> you're saying regardless of what happens tonight -- i mean, let's say president obama gets re-elected. he will have to deal with paul ryan. >> yes. >> he goes back to his position in congress. >> yeah, he'll be back up on capitol hill. he might be frustrated, but he's

going to have more of a national profile from having come pained across the country. paul ryan will have more juice after this campaign than maybe anyone else. he's certainly not going to be in sarah palin's position. paul ryan is going to be a power player in this negotiation. the question is what seat is he sitting in when they do that negotiation? >> all right. stay with us. we want to bring in steve liesman and rick santelli to talk more about the outcome and what the outcome of the congressional races tonight will impact the fiscal cliff. rick, let's start with you on the fiscal cliff. obviously, if mitt romney wins, he said the next day he is going to focus on the fiscal cliff. how does that play out? how do you envision this happening? >> i think it's going to be very difficult, but the complexion of congress, as eamon pointed out, is key. if the republicans run the table and do cross over in the senate, they hold on to the house. the fiscal cliff issue gets watered down quickly. same if the democrats run the table. i think we know what the outcome there would be. i think if you see the senate stay as it is f the house stays

as it is, it almost doesn't matter. i think there's going to be an issue. boehner's commented sounded like a mirror image of senator schumer's comments a couple weeks ago. they've both put down markers. i think that's why the underlying tone of this election is leadership. i think both sides do not want to blink, and you need somebody that is going to get and extract some form of compromise. >> no doubt about it. steve, you know a couple weeks ago the white house said that the president is ready to veto any legislation that has the fiscal cliff enabling the tax cuts to get extended for the highest earners. >> leadership is all well and good, but if you don't have the right incentive on the other side, i don't know what what's going to bring them to the table. you could have the most compromising president in the history of the united states, but what i don't understand is what is going to be the incentive on the other side. there's only two ways a real deal is going to get done. a united congress or united government essentially or a crisis. those are the only two things

that i think are the real incentives for getting anything done. >> even ben bernanke called this a crisis, steve. are we in the middle of a crisis? >> you are correct, but right now it's like the slow war before the actual war. >> how many times have you seen president obama, and i don't want to get political here, how many times have you seen him in late-night meet aings with people from the house, people from the senate where they have their sleeves rolled up working until 3:00 in the morning to work it out? you don't see those pictures. >> they haven't done anything since the middle of the summer on the fiscal cliff. >> it is about leadership. >> the story is told by several sides. obama worked real hard in the summer, and the republicans walked away from that deal that was out there. >> but the president -- >> is that not right? >> the president has to bring the two sides together. it's up to the president to bring two the sides together, steve. that's what i think he's talking about with leadership. it's up to the president to ensure -- >> i don't know. >> the president couldn't do

that before the election because nobody is going to compromise before election day. we have election day. we'll see where we are afterward. i think within a couple days we start to see this negotiation really heating up. i agree with what steve was just saying. congress and washington responds to pain. that might be why we're about to go over the fiscal cliff. incentives. this might be a lot like the t.a.r.p. vote. they need to see a market reaction. they need to see the business community reaction. >> i know what you're saying, maria, but ei think the reality is that right now i'm trying to game out if obama wins. what is the republican incentive to compromise? same is true with the democrats. either the rules of the game change, and there's a lot of talk about what would change that, in other words redistricting the whole united states so these guys don't have such safe seats and they're not able to be so one sided. >> you know what i don't understand?

this is all on these guys' watches. last year we talked about the deadline for the fiscal cliff. they knew what was coming. you would think six months ago they said to themselves, okay, in six months we have to make a decision. let's have a plan "b." tlt there's no back-up plan. >> wait until after the election and see what's. that's plan "b." >> all right, guys. thank you. we'll keep covering it all night tonight. our full team coverage kicks off at 5:00 p.m. eastern with with "squawk box." i'll be anchoring from 7:00 p.m. until we learn who our next president will be. this promises to be one of the most exciting elections in u.s. history. you think it's going to happen by 10:30. >> i think 10:30 we're going to know. >> you think we're here all night. >> could be a long one. >> you think? >> i think i need another cup of coffee. >> go for it. keep it here for all the of the up to the minute results. former new york governor and mitt romney supporter george

pitaki will be with us. we'll get his take on the fiscal cliff and the government's response to superstorm sandy and more. don't miss it. up next, the billionaire activist behind this tv ad, thomas peterffy. he joins me to discuss the election and creeping socialism in the country and whether he plans to move back to hungary if the president wins another four years. back in a minute.

welcome back. billionaire thomas peterffy has spent $8 million of his own money in advertising to get his message out. vote republican to fight socialism. listen to this. >> america's wealth comes from the efforts of people striving for success. take away their incentive with bad mouthing success, and you take away the wealth that helps us take care of the needy. yes, in socialism the rich will be poorer. but the poorer will also be poorer. people will lose interest in really working hard and creating jobs. >> so will his efforts pay off? joining us now for an exclusive interview is the man himself,

thomas peterffy. mr. peterffy, good to have you on the program. thanks for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> so you cast your vote obviously for romney this afternoon. if we wins, what does that mean for the markets and the economy in your view? >> on short term, markets go up if romney wins. they go down if obama wins. on the long term, i think the situation is reversed. because if obama wins and we would see that the next four years similar to the last four years, high deficit spending, easy money, and inflationary policies, then i would think that the dollar will depreciate relative to stocks fast and far. so in other words, the nominal value of stocks would rise. >> so if president obama gets re-elected tonight, what would you say about the effectiveness

of your campaign then? >> well, you know, if i turned a few hundred thousand votes, then i'm happy. that's all i can hope to do. >> tell me about the specifics that you see in president obama's plans that lead you to believe there is creeping socialism as a result of his policies. what is most upsetting to you? >> well, what we see is increasing reliance on government support. so more and more people are dependent on the government, and that number is coming close to 50%. i think that in the next four years under an obama administration that number may go well over 50%. in that case, the election four years from now, a socialist candidate may easily be elected.

>> so in terms of socialism, where is the socialism, i guess is my question? what specific policies do you see that lead you to believe that we are going down that road in america? >> well, what specific policies do i see currently? >> yes, exactly. >> well, it is growing regulation on business. it is the rhetoric that is against successful people. and it is more and more reliance on social programs. >> yes, more reliance on government. so if we were to see a mitt romney win then tonight, you think it's a different story? >> well, i think that mitt romney would reawaken the entrepreneurial spirit in the country. he would ease regulation on

business. and business people would be again enthusiastic and strive for success, as i say in the ad. >> what are you seeing from your own clients right now? are they risk averse? are they sitting on money the way so many businesses are because of the lack of clarity? and do you think that loosens up tomorrow regardless or not? >> well, i think it will loosen up once the fiscal cliff is dealt with one way or the other. for the time being, you are correct. we do not only service constituti institutional clients but also individuals who are mostly financial professionals or successful business leaders. and these business leaders are not as active in looking for investments and trading opportunities as they used to be. >> i mean, the fiscal cliff is clearly, you know, the biggest

issue economically over the near term. once we get the winner of the election tonight, the work really does begin, doesn't it? so what gives you confidence that mitt romney will be able to it reach on both sides of the aisle and create compromise? clearly we have not seen an ability by president obama to bring the two sides together because it's so polarizing. they don't want to compromise. so why do you believe mitt romney will be able to create that kind of compromise? >> well, exactly, but i think that mitt romney's closer to the center than president obama and mitt romney has a history of working with the opposition, which president obama does not. so that's why i thought that i would make this ad and would try to reach out to undecided voters, and i think that

undecided voters have an equally strong side on want one hand, which is pragmatic, practical side that wants them to vote for mitt romney and a utopian side that would like them to vote for obama. i think it is the utopian side that is speaking to the posters, and i hope that it is the pragmatic side that will prevail in the voting booth. >> no doubt about it your ad got a lot of play for sure. we appreciate your time tonight, mr. peterffy. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you very much. >> we'll see you soon. thanks very much, sir. thomas peterffy, chairman and ceo of interactive brokers. george pataki is up next. then later on in the program, how will the election impact your investments first thing tomorrow morning? three of wall street's top money pros will weigh in.

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welcome back. new yorkers getting out to vote in the wake of superstorm sandy. new york governor cuomo allowing residents to cast provisional ballots. my next guest served as governor

of the state of new york from 1995 to 2006. he's now in private practice at a law firm. governor george pataki joining us. thank y >> hi, maria. good to be with you. >> might this drag out for days and weeks? what's your take? >> i think we could know by 9:30 tonight. the polls in new hampshire and pennsylvania close at 8:00. if governor romney wins new hampshire, if governor romney wins or is essentially tied, it's unclear, in pennsylvania, i think we're going to have a pretty good indication that governor romney will be the next president of the united states. because the polls all show new hampshire has a virtual dead heat. perhaps a slight edge to obama. they show obama with a four or five-point edge in pennsylvania. if that's not the case, then i think all of these close races we can have some degree of confidence will break towards governor romney. i think we could have an early

night. if, on the other hand, the polling in new hampshire is exactly what the vote says, then we could have a long night. so i think if governor romney is going to win, i think we'll know pretty quickly. otherwise, it's going to be a long night. >> yeah, but i mean, do you believe the polls? the polls are basically saying that even if it's just a fractional lead, the president is in the lead. so why would you think that these polls would crack toward romney? >> maria, the polls are a point in time. what matters most is the momentum. i think over the last three days -- and it's the eve of the election. there's no need for any spin. the polls have been open for 11 hours. i honestly think when you look at the crowds that governor romney has been getting, when you look at the body language of governor romney and his entourage then you contrast it to the president's -- by the way, joe biden stopping in ohio, an unscheduled top on election day, that's not exactly a sign

of confidence. i think the momentum has been towards governor romney the last three or four days. i am very optimistic that we're going to see a victory tonight. >> you were governor when 9/11 happened. we know that. you had real leadership there. what do you think of president obama and governor kcuomo's handling of the superstorm crisis? >> just from personal experience, i had friends go out to staten island this weekend for help. they said there was no sign of a government response. there were a lot of individuals, volunteers, church groups, neighbors helping neighbors, but they saw virtually no sign of any government presence, other than police officers directing traffic. one of my partners today is out in the rockaways delivering goods. i was just talking to him. it's the same thing. there was a very limited or almost no sign of emergency relief support from the federal west virginia government. you know, we're about almost a week after this horrible disaster. the fact that the response has been so pathetical lally slow oe

part of the federal government is troubling. >> it's interesting. now governor christie and governor cuomo want the government to pick up the tab for everything. then you've got these long gas lines. could the gas lines have been avoided? there's a debate. some people say, well, the storm helped president obama, gave him a platform to come out and show leadership. on the other hand, these long gas lines have become a real problem for folks. >> you know, maria, i think the storm did it help president obama. in those first couple of days, he looked like the president. he looked like a leader. but then he did it again. he went back on the campaign trail. if he had said, you know, i've seen what americans can do when we stand together as we're doing in new jersey and when all levels of government come together without regard to party, i think he could have continued that momentum. the first day on the trail, his first speech, he's back to being the small, partisan, personal attacking candidate as opposed to a statesman. i think that hurt the president. over the last four or five days,

i think those gas lines, the failure to provide basic support to these devastated communities, now virtually a week after the tragedy, is cutting into people's impressions. >> let's say this materializes the way you are expecting and governor romney wins the white house tonight. then the work begins. you've got the chief of staff he's got to choose. you've got the fiscal cliff, sequestration, the foreign policy team, another major issue. what does he do first? where do you think his focus ought to be if, in fact, you're right and he actually wins? >> well, to say that you can only focus on one area first, like the fiscal cliff. obviously, that's critical. i know it's something that if he wins this election as i hope, governor romney will not wait until january 20th to work on it. he'll be putting together ideas and a team right after election day. when you look at what happened in benghazi and the security threat that's ongoing to it our country, i know that will be a priority for the governor as

well. then you have the question of economic recovery. there's going to be a full agenda. but i know governor romney is ready for that. he has not a team in place, but he has advisers who are capable of creating a good team quickly. i'm very optoptimistic. on the fiscal cliff, i think the governor has the ability to work across party lines. he showed that in massachusetts. we have the basis for a solution in bowles-simpson. president obama's own recommendation he ignored. i think governor romney can start from there. >> all right. >> and have a great success. >> we'll leave it there. governor, good to have you on the program. thanks so much for your time tonight. >> thank you, maria. >> we'll talk to you soon. keep it here for up to the minute election results. our special program begins at top of the hour with a special e edition of "squawk box." then i'll be anchoring starting at 7:00 until we learn who the next president will be. we have all of the action here for you on cnbc.

up next what money can buy. wait until you hear some of the ballot initiatives being funded by some of the nation's super rich. wealth editor robert frank on the story. also, buckle up for tomorrow's post-election session. our top market pros will tell what an obama or romney victory could do to your money. stick around on "closing bell." ♪ [ female announcer ] today is not just about who lives in the white house, it's about who lives in the yellow house, the brick, the green, and the apartment house, too. today we not only honor the oval office, but we honor the cubicle, the open-air office and the home office as well. ♪ today is not just about who rides in air force one, it's about who rides in the 4 door sedan, the 2 door hatchback and the v8 muscle car.

♪ because today it's about all of us. and no matter who you are, or where you live, you're the commander-in-chief of your own life. and that's something that will never change. ♪

we have heard a lot of wealthy individuals spending millions to back theirt presidential candidate. millions are beepg spent on special ballot initiatives. >> in california alone a handful of donors have spenlt more than $350 million on stat ballot initiative. much of the money comes from a single family, the monger's. daughter molly monger has spend more than $40 million.

her more conservative brother has spent $36 million on a measure to make it harder for unions to raise political money. the hedgefund chief spent more than $25 million to close a tax loop hole for out of state companies. many say they are just using their money for broader public good. at least one ballot backer has his own fortunes in mind. he spent more than $30 million to oppose a new bridge. turns out he has his own toll bridge that collects tens of millions of dollars a year. we will see whether all of this ballot money was a waste or not. we will know tonight or tomorrow morning. >> these numbers are mind boggling. thank you so much. for investors how are they

positioning themselves for an obama or romney victory? we will break it down now. guys, thanks for joining us. jeff, what will you do tomorrow if mitt romney wins? >> like many of us i'm watching the election tonight. public opinion polls show many voters favor mitt romney on the economy. i think we will see public sentiment put pressure on the bond market. i think we will see the market start to price in a higher likelihood of a resolution of the fiscal cliff. if obama wins i think we can see a mild selloff on stocks. >> it sounds to me if romney were to win you want to be buying stocks. how would an obama victory effect your investment strategy? >> an obama member would mean a rally in treasuries.

i think that high yield companies will be able to refinance but results will be lack luster and look for special dividends further eroding credit. i would be a buyer of health care as well as food and staples retailers on an obama victory. >> chris, you say regardless of who wins it will be a positive for the markets. how so? >> the two points i want to make, first of all the markets like certainty in general. unless we get a hanging situation i think the market will appreciate the certainty. either outcome has generally corresponded to a strong market return either the incumbent staying in office or republican challenger winning. i think you put it all together with the fact that risk assets are still relatively inexpensive and it bodes well. >> to what would you attribute the big rally we saw today in

the stock market? >> i think it is anticipation of romney getting in office although we may not find out until early in the morning tomorrow morning. >> robert, what do you think? >> i think it is a romney victory although we may find out. >> jeff, what about you? >> i am in agreement with with everybody else. >> you think is what is behind the rally. chris, do you agree with that or the fact that we get clarity regardless? >> i think more than anything it is clarity. i think a lot of investors are sick of all the political rhetoric and the ads that have been running and a lot of us want it to be over. if you are a business owner you can start planning for the future, whatever that future may be. >> so once we get a decision at least we can get back to business. you think a lot of the money on

the sidelines will get loosened up after tonight? >> i believe so. and i think if romney wins the loosening probably happens a little quicker. generally speaking i expect risk markets to finish strong. at the end of the day people hate it when i say this but the interest rate environment i think is so much more important looking forward than a presidential. >> we know where those rates are and will be until 2015. thank you very much. great conversation. appreciate your time and we'll see you soon. before we go take a look at the day on wall street triple digit move for the dow jones industrial average. 13,245. nasdaq picked up 12 points. the s&p 500 up 11 points. that will do it for "closing bell" tonight. thank you for being with me.

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